Where We All Went Wrong
by derpette-Waffle
Summary: Following the lives of the next generation. - divorced!Finchel, Puck/OC, Klaine, Fabrevans, separated!Brittana, Sugory.


Hudson Household, 10:22 PM

The four siblings had gathered in the kitchen around the phone, arranged in what could hardly be called a semi-circle spanning the island to the table too small for the family of five. A family that used to consist of six –two parents and their evenly divided four children- was down to five ever since the divorce. _Dad had said the check was late…_ thought seventeen-year-old Lucas as he drummed his calloused fingers against the tabletop. He glanced to his other siblings.

Christopher was the oldest at nineteen, the first son and probably their father's favorite. He was lean and athletic, attending ColumbiaUniversity on a baseball scholarship. Chris had meant to go into the army like their father, and their grandfather, but he'd turned the opportunity away after their parents separated in favor of bringing in extra money and looking after his younger siblings. It seems so noble, doesn't it? But Chris was anything but, and Luke knew this better than anyone. He was arrogant and conceited and only did things to further benefit himself. He didn't really care about Luke or their sisters as much as he wanted somewhere to crash when he was going through a cocaine detox, and an excuse for their father not to kick him out.

"She isn't gonna call," Eliza sneered. Eliza, named for the famous fair lady, had been the apple of their mother's eye when she was still around all the time. She had been the one to take her to all her ballet and tap and vocal lessons. When the divorce proceedings took off, she hadn't had the time or the money to let Eliza's classes continue, and the sixteen-year-old has resented her since. Eliza was about as talented as they came, not to mention a beautiful girl. She wasn't exactly model material, but she did have a very plain prettiness to her, very classic and subdued. Their mother had always told her she would go far with that and with all the skills she's built on over the years, but lately she hadn't been around to encourage her. Eliza hadn't participated in any performance competitions in a few years, despite everyone's insistence that she continue. She blamed their mother for all her hardships, and maybe rightfully so.

Luke glanced over to Nichole, called Nikki by many, sitting next to him silently as she sipped at the protein shake she'd started on over a half hour ago. She'd yet to say a word on the matter of their mother's missing phone call, but it wasn't a surprise: she was probably focused, her mind elsewhere. Next year, if she trained hard enough, she'd be eligible for the Olympics. A born gymnast, Nikki rarely needed to train as hard as she has been, but her coach has been pushing her extra hard lately. Nikki wasn't always just all seriousness –she always found time to be the funniest and most carefree of the siblings, in Luke's eyes- but she'd just been rather quiet all night.

Luke turned to face his own lap, biting his lip and waiting. He was sort of the black sheep of the family. He wasn't a winning pitcher like Chris, or a starlet like Eliza, or a future Olympian like Nikki. He was just plain old Luke Richard Hudson, with the narrow eyes and the flat hair and the cargo shorts and the shitty sneakers ever gracing his enormous feet. He was nothing special, and he knew it quite well.

He turned back up in time to see as Chris stretched his arms above his head, track marks from on-and-off IV drug use littering his inner elbows. He yawned and smacked his lips. "Is Dad coming home tonight or no?" The four were used to being alone in the house. Their father, a former Army cadet, held two jobs: a police officer by day, a campus security guard by night. The shifts were almost always extended, and often right on top of each other. Sometimes he'd leave in the morning and not come home until the next afternoon or later. They were usually on their own, even if their father didn't like it. He'd called his ex-wife again and again to ask her to watch the so-called children if he'd be gone for more than 24 hours, even if just to check on them, but she was too wrapped up in her perpetually failing dream of being a Broadway actress.

"I'm not sure," Nikki piped up, the first word she'd spoken in hours. Luke was caught off guard by the sudden voice so close to him and flinched a little. Nikki ignored his surprise and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl. "He said his shift at the college was moved to 10, and he got off the beat at 9. He probably took a bus or walked straight over there if he didn't need anything here."

The other three glanced over at the cat clock hanging on the wall. It was half past ten. Nikki's theory was probably correct.

"Mom's not gonna call, yeah…" Chris commented out of the blue, yawning again and rubbing at the back of his neck. "If she was gonna call us any time in the last month, she probably would've by now. She didn't send the check; she's probably done with us. Maybe she's already got a replacement family. He glanced at the clock one more time, blowing a breath of reluctant defeat. "Anyway," he said finally in a voice that communicated in itself how weary he was, "it's getting late. Nikki, get to bed, I'll take you to practice tomorrow but you better not wake me up before I need to be up."

Nikki nodded as he headed for his/Luke's room. She put the apple back, not one bite taken out of it, and jogged to the shower for a quick rinse before bed. Eliza, also fed up with the whole situation, stood wordlessly and went down the hall, presumably to her/Nikki's room, but Luke couldn't tell from here.

Sighing deeply, Luke left as well. But not to his bedroom, the one he shared with Chris. No, he left the house altogether. The driveway was quite long and dark at this time of night, but he didn't mind. He called coming home from school his 'daily workout' and could get away with it. But right now he needed some fresh air anyway.

Tree upon naked tree lined the gravelly roads as Luke finally reached the end of the driveway. Their neighborhood wasn't too bad, just for those hard on their luck, it seemed. Not poverty, but or even lower middle class -just average.

Mrs. Pagini, a single mother of five who still went by Mrs. even though she'd never been married, was sweeping leaves off her front porch. She glanced up and sent a cautious glare in Luke's direction. Luke in turn forced a smile and waved a little through the darkness. Mrs. Pagini went back to work.

Luke skipped a little past a shallow ditch running alongside the pavement, a little jump in his step, the stress of his home life slowly dissipating from his shoulders. He felt so suffocated back home, even though he really did love his siblings.

He passed by the Joe's Corner Market, taking a few steps past it before turning on his heel. He could go for a caffeine fix, especially if he didn't plan on going home yet or anytime soon. He stepped inside, the little bell on top of the door dinging as he slipped in and strolled past the counter. Joe himself bellowed a "good evenin', Luke" from behind the service counter, to which Luke replied with a small smile and a wave. Luke headed to the back to make some cheap coffee before moving to grab some candy, when he encountered a familiar face.

"Hey, Ginny, what are you doing here so late?" he smiled as the tall, crimped-haired blonde eyeing a packet of Skittles. She looked up, a little startled by the well-known voice before grinning at him.

"Hi, Luke," he greeted, her voice sweet and pleasant. "Um, I just stopped by on my way home. I wanted to get a bottle of water and maybe a snack, I've been out all day and haven't had much to eat or drink."

Virginia Evans was the beauty of McKinleyHigh School. Honor student, cheerleader, and homecoming court royalty, Virginia was by far the most popular girl in school, and rightfully so. But unlike most of the bimbos in her in-crowd, Virginia was sweet and kind and not stuck-up at all. Popularity ran in her family, too: her mother was Quinn Fabray, the most popular girl at McKinley for her entire high school life, and her father was brief-quarterback and bottle-blonde stud Sam Evans.

She turned to Luke now with a shy smile that showed how she clearly didn't know her own greatness, living in her parents' shadows. "Are you going to Prom? You didn't go last year." Virginia and Luke went way back –their mothers were best friends for a while- and were friendly with each other. Luke wasn't exactly of the same social standing as the blonde girl, but that didn't stop them from being able to hold a conversation. They were more like family than anything.

"Um, I guess I should, right?" Luke answered with a question, uncertain, shifting his weight onto his other heel as he thought about it. In all honesty, he didn't really want to. Prom was for happy couples to slow dance under the dim slow of cheap lamps hanging from the ceiling. Luke had had girlfriends before, but he always seemed to be single right when he needed not to be. Prom was still a few months away, but it was already all the buzz around the small town high school. What else did they have to talk about, after all?

Virginia shrugged. "I'm going with Dean Christiansen. He's the basketball team captain and he was also on the football team. He asked me and I just couldn't say no…" She didn't really want to go with Dean: he was an obnoxious moron who stuffed the weaker students into lockers just because he knew he could get away with it. But Virginia also knew it was a sure shot at Prom royalty, something she had failed to gain last year. Plus, it was really just a silly dance, anyway. It wasn't like they were even dating.

Luke had approximately the same opinion of Dean as Virginia did, but he was still not quick to voice his concerns. Sure, the guy was a prick, but if Virginia wanted to go with him, he didn't have a say in the matter, even if he knew she could do much, much better. "Ah," he responded, noncommittally.

"Anyway, Luke, it was a lot of fun last year that you missed out on. I really think you should go, I think you'd have a good time."

"Prom is more for couples, and yours truly is currently single." It wasn't that he didn't have his eye on anyone special, he just happened to be without a significant other at the moment. It wasn't a bad thing, though; he almost enjoyed the freedom of not being engulfed in a relationship.

"You could go with your friends?" Virginia suggested, tilting her head just to the side in an almost puppy-like manner.

"Girls do that. Guys can't get away with it so easily."

Virginia was running out of options to suggest, and it was getting late. Rubbing at her temple and finally grabbing a pack of Skittles, she decided she needed to get home or her parents would flip. "It was nice seeing you, Luke. I'll see you at school tomorrow." With a friendly wave, she dismissed him and skipped out of the shop.

Luke smiled to himself. Virginia's enthusiasm for life was very contagious. He got his coffee and a pack of gummy worms before leaving the shop himself.


End file.
